The Mark of Athena - The epic quest to defeat Gaea
by RachelRavenclaw16
Summary: The ship is ready to land in New Rome, but are the demigods? They are forced to deal with their internal turmoil, be teenagers, and keep their cool, all while saving the world. Can they do it?
1. Chapter 1

_**Piper**_

"Sup passengers!" a certain son of Hephaestus announced over the intercom, catching Piper off guard. The daughter of Aphrodite set down her shining blade _Katropis._ It was her looking glass, her way to feel helpful to the others onboard the _Argus II._ Piper wasn't a fighter, and her only defences were her words and, grudgingly, beauty – which would most likely _not_ help when fighting a woman as old as earth. Well, technically she _was_ earth. Piper shuddered. The things she'd seen through her knife… let's just say that Gaea didn't wear dandelion crowns and sing to birds all day long.

"This is your all-time supreme commander of the Argo II speaking," Leo continued. "We are arriving at the military _– sorry - Roman_ camp in about one hour, so prepare your weapons - _uh_ \- I mean prepare yourselves for some slight turbulence."

Piper let herself sink back into her chair before a series of squeaks spewed out the intercom, followed by a sharp beep, then a hasty "That is all!"

Piper rolled her eyes at Leo. Though his antics got a bit annoying, he was at least a source of entertainment. Through all the stiffness towards Leo's lousy jokes, there was an unspoken thankfulness for the much-needed distraction. There's the stress, the war, the foreshadowed deaths of loved ones and even the guilt associated with killing the friendlier monsters. In the end, even the most high-strung demigods needed a break. In this case, Piper needed something to cloud her thoughts from another issue, not involving Leo's idiotic antics, or even Gaea's war.

The gods were stuck in her mind. Despite Zeus's hostility (okay, _law)_ against helping the heroes, the gods have never paid attention to rules and this century wasn't an exception. Gods have been lending immortal hands to their children, which pretty much meant supplying tools to build a certain war ship, or even to hand out relationship advice.

Piper's mother had visited her a few months ago, through a dream, to share a few words of wisdom during her quest. The rendezvous had mostly consisted of Aphrodite raiding Medea's department store and squeezing Coach Hedge into a canary yellow blazer, but the love goddess did hint at Piper's relationship issues. She remembered Aphrodite clearly stating that she and Jason " _could_ be". Even if those words were nonchalant, anything spouted from an immortal's mouth could have a hidden meaning. But Piper was having serious trouble finding a message other than " _You and Jason are screwed- try again next time"_ or " _Yep, this is going good but I'm not at all interested."_

 _Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Mom_. Couldn't Aphrodite have expanded on _how_ she and Jason 'could be'? Piper's love life had gone nowhere besides downhill – she desperately needed a love goddess's help. Jason seemed to be slipping from her gaze every time she tried to lock eyes with him, and went out of his way to avoid talking to her alone. He was useless. She might as well forget love and focus on saving the Universe, right? Ha! That was wishful thinking; she couldn't get this kid out of her mind! Was there some sort of code to unlocking a stubborn half-blood? Perhaps, ' _1) Hold hands, 2) Lock lips'_ would do the trick. Of course, her mother decided to stay silent through all this instead of telling her what to do. Now all she'd been waiting for was a sign – What do I do? Who do I do…? Nothing. No answer. Of course.

Now Piper didn't want to seem more concerned about boys than the looming warnings of a gruesome war, but to top it all off, she was terrified for Annabeth – and Percy's potential girlfriend. Most of the Greeks were worried that the Romans would attack _them_ but Piper was a little scared of what Annabeth would do if Percy had another girlfriend. Would she attack the Romans? Would the rest of the camp follow her lead? She had been at Camp Half-blood longer than anyone else, and they would follow her footsteps in a heartbeat. This daughter of Athena alone could start a full-on blood bath between the two camps. That assumption wasn't too big of a leap – people had done wild things in the name of love, just thinking of the Trojan War made her shiver.

Piper jumped. A current of urgent knocks erupted on her bedroom door, followed by a strangled, "Piper?"

She immediately knew it was Annabeth, whom she'd been comforting for a while now. Ever since Piper returned from her quest she'd noticed Annabeth skipping meals to train, and working overnight on the Argo II. She was almost as bad as Leo. Needless, Piper was good with people she liked being around, even in their worst states. So she took the upset demigod (who happened to be older, stronger, and braver than she was), and gave her a shoulder to lean on. It was times like these that Annabeth would need Piper.

She pulled herself off her comfy armchair and pushed open the door. As soon as the steel hinges creaked open, Piper spotted a distressed Annabeth pacing the ship's hall on the verge of tears. That's how she always was. On the edge of breaking, but never to fall. Piper had yet to see a single tear. She quickly ushered Annabeth into her cramped cabin and sat her down.

"Explain" was all she needed to say, as they had both acknowledged that asking if she was alright was a really stupid question.

"What if he's different?" Annabeth's full gray eyes didn't meet Piper's. It was clear that Annabeth didn't enjoy seeming vulnerable, but there's only so much even a strong girl can handle. "Memories make a person. Without them…" Annabeth didn't need to say more.

"Without them, you're worried he won't be Percy anymore," Piper finished. Annabeth gave a curt not, but something in her eyes made Piper keep going. "You think that he won't be the same person at all, different personality, different morals, different side of the war," she looked at Annabeth and turned her head, as if to say _Now you go._

Annabeth took a slow breath. "Percy has always managed to squeeze of out situations. He always knows what to do and that's because of instincts. Those I know he has. But it's his heart that has always kept him alive. His integrity has convinced enemies to spare him and I don't know if he'll have that anymore. He might not remember me, and he might not love me, and while that's bad, he could even b-be…dead," Annabeth choked out the last word like it was bitter sitting in her mouth. "I don't think I could handle that." Piper listened intently even though they'd been over this many times before. It incredibly odd seeing Annabeth so miserable, but seemed even weirder to be giving relationship advice, given with what was going on in her own love life.

"Look Annabeth, obviously he's not _dead_!" Annabeth gave her a look that said _Seriously, I came here for an adult conversation._ She straightened and looked right into Annabeth's eyes so she knew Piper meant business.

"I mean for gods' sake, think about it. He's one of the seven so he really can't die before the prophecy comes to pass, right?"

Annabeth raised her head slightly, but her eyes her locked on the porthole behind Piper, as if Percy would come swimming for her as soon as the ship came into view. Ironically, they were 37,000 feet high, floating with the clouds not krill.

"So now that's dealt with," Piper told her, reaching to grasp the blonde's hand. "About the forgetting-you-thing, this kid fell in love with you once, and no matter how stupid you make him out to be, he would be an absolute idiot to forget you that easily. Trust me," Piper nodded earnestly.

"How would you know what he would and wouldn't forget?" Annabeth snapped, yanking her hand back. "The gods don't care what he does with personal life, as long as he gets the job done." The words were bitter, but pleading+++++++++ so Piper played along.

"Listen Annabeth, my mom would murder Hera if she broke you two up. She said that you guys were the cutest couple since Helen and Paris!" Annabeth looked horrified.

"But Piper!" she cried. "Helen and Paris both _died!_ And they were stuck in a Roman versus Greek war too. And I'll bet Aphrodite planned it that way. She's always so set on making everyone else so _interesting_. Maybe she could take her own advice and grow a few brain cells. Now _that_ would shake things up!" Annabeth was standing, her hands clenched till they matched the white sheets on Piper's bed. Even though she had some few hard spots with her mother, Piper didn't exactly love the way Annabeth spoke about her. Still, she tried to stay calm.

"Annabeth, really. I don't know what you need me to say here," Piper paused, knowing it was time to let her charmspeak leak through, "But my mom meant it in a good way." _And at least she gave you any useful comments at all._ "You guys aren't going to die."

Annabeth just raised an eyebrow. She probably heard the envy in Piper's voice, or maybe it really was the charmspeak, but this girl could see through Piper like she was an open book. Annabeth didn't say anything, she only gazed though the porthole, watching the clouds drift by. The anger was lost again. Piper noticed Annabeth's arm drifting up her neck, fingers enclosing around a silver owl pendant strung by a bronze chain.

"It's a pretty necklace," Piper told her reassuringly.

"Percy gave it to me." The girls stared at each other, not sure what to say.

"You better go get ready, I have to sort some things out with Leo," Piper said, rising from the bed.

"Good luck," Annabeth laughed softly, the tension nearly dissipating from the air. Nearly. Piper smiled back at her, trying to ease their friendship into normalcy, pretending that Annabeth didn't have permanently red rimmed eyes and she didn't have infinite circles under her own, but neither girl could honestly understand what normal really meant.

Piper left Annabeth in her room, that girl barely had any time to think her issues out. Annabeth was constantly looking for someone to help, something to fix, somewhere to be, and if that's how she handled the grief and what kept her going then good for her. Piper, on the other hand, had too much time on her hands. She knew every hall in the ship (and this is a pretty damn big warship) and she had gotten to know every demigod they'd brought onboard, which wasn't all too bad because the kids of the prophecy only selected a handful of half-bloods from each cabin to join them.

Soon Piper turned the corner heading to the control room and she stepped warily towards a door labeled 'The Control'. Piper hesitated before turning the knob. No doubt, Leo's little lair was rigged with stink bombs and embarrassing booby traps, so she'd better knock first. She reached her hand to the door, ready to rap on the steel, but was cut short by a hand pressed upon her shoulder.

"Huh?" Piper whipped around, her braid slapping against her cheek. She took a quick intake of breath when she saw which hero stood before her.

"Jason."

"I think," he said slowly, "that we should talk."


	2. Chapter 2

**Annabeth's POV**

Annabeth was frazzled. No, she was heartbroken. Or was she angry? Definitely. Stressed is also a given. She had been an emotional roller-coaster for the past couple months, what with the war, Percy's disappearance and the possibilities that he could be dead, have completely forgotten her, or worse, canoodling with Roman girls. She definitely didn't want herself, Percy and another Roman girl to be in a Jason-Piper-Reyna mess. Not that Annabeth had always been an over-clingy, jealous girlfriend, but Jason had let it slip that he had a tight relationship with someone else back at Camp Jupiter, and he couldn't remember their status. What if that was how Percy remembered Annabeth? Ever since that slip-up, Jason had been avoiding Piper and any awkward "feelings" conversations. The only things they'd talked about all together since he regained his memory of Reyna were battle tactics and their approach on Camp Jupiter. Imagine discussing kill strategy with Seaweed Brain! Yikes. If she were honest with herself, she would sit down and think about how she felt and perhaps her thoughts would reorganise, but anytime Annabeth considered it, he would be flashed with an image of herself lying on a red coach, tissue in hand, as a lady that looked frighteningly like her mother listened to her rant, marking notes on a clipboard. No, it was better to let those thoughts stew at the back of her mind, where no one, especially the other demigods could see them. Annabeth sighed and glanced at her watch.

"Holy Hades!" she yelped. It was twenty minutes since Leo announced that they'd be arriving at Camp Jupiter. That meant she had _forty minutes_ until they landed on Roman soil. _And_ _to get ready for Percy…_ OK, Annabeth was freaking out a little, but she still needed to revise her plans, shower, revise her plans, prepare the demigods, do a once-over of emerg-strategies and revise her plans. Thoughts scrambled, Annabeth trudged out of Piper's cabin.

"Annabeth!" A shrill voice called.

"Hey girl! Over here!" Annabeth sighed. It was the Aphrodite girls. The last time this had happened, they'd wanted pictures of Percy's abs. The possy marched towards the daughter of Athena.

"Yes Drew?" Annabeth asked, exasperated, to the girl at the head of the pack. The leader grinned, showing off her perfect set of whites.

"So honey, here's the deal; you're going to meet the boy you love," cue the awes "-for the first time in, like, forever." Drew flashed Annabeth another grin. "We took it upon ourselves to wonder what Aphrodite would really want and-"

"Drew, cut the chase. I don't have time," Annabeth told her. Drew pursed her full lips.

" _Hon,_ " Drew started haughtily. "We only want to give you a makeover." Annabeth's eyes narrowed, not exactly the reaction the girls had been hoping for. Lacy cut in,

"It's not what you're thinking. We only want to make you look _memorable."_

That was the right thing to say. Annabeth's gears shifted. Percy might not recognize a tired, war-driven girl, but a gorgeous one might jog his memory. Besides, who needs triple-advised plans anyways? Piper would scoff, but a little extra Aphrodite love magic couldn't hurt. _Of course it can,_ a wise Annabeth said in the back of her mind. _Love is the root of all problems, all failed plan executions and quests._ Annabeth ignored the voice, but she definitely would regret it.

"Ouch! Watch it, or I'll just ask Iris' cabin to beautify me," Annabeth complained as the Aphrodite girls tweaked and pulled every strand of hair sticking out of her head. "Or better yet, I still need to check with Leo on our planned dynamic angle for our descent when we reach the areo-defiency altitude – OW!"

Annabeth wished yet again that Thalia's Hunters had agreed to come along on the Argo II with the rest of the camp. If the Hunters had been here maybe they would've been better help. They _had_ tried staying at camp for a couple of "test" days, but it was just argument after argument, burning cabins, and a couple of rogue centaurs though Annabeth wasn't quite sure how that had anything to do with Artemis.

"O-oh, Annabeth we're going make you so pretty," a doe-eyed girl named Chloe murmured absently while handing Drew the curling iron.

"Yeah. Percy's gonna drop dead 'cause you're so drop-dead gorgeous," Lacy gushed. Annabeth blushed and swatted away her hand bearing hot pink lipstick. Lacy nodded and cursed herself, and mumbled something about clashing with her skin tone.

"I want to look _natural._ No makeup. I don't want to make a big deal out of this."

"Aw, sweetie, can I at least apply some cover-up? You don't really have the best complexion, hon," Drew said glancing up from Annabeth's rat's nest. Annabeth scowled at her stylist. _Best_ _complexion, huh. Well you don't exactly have the best IQ._

"Well, Percy likes me that way, so," Annabeth fretted to come up with an answer. "So just leave my face the way it is." Though Annabeth wasn't a very good example; her face was shifting to strawberry pink. Battle-field taunts she was good at, but trying to find a comeback when it was concerning beauty, in front of children of the _Goddess_ of Beauty – not gonna happen.

"Alright, honey, if you say so."

Annabeth squirmed in her seat; the ADHD inside her was acting up. As soon as the girls squeaked "Finished!" and spun around her chair, Annabeth shot right out of her seat and ran up to the mirror, inspecting every curl. She honestly wasn't usually the type of girl who got flustered over every blemish on her head, but this was an exception – she was going to see Percy for the first time in seven months, one week and eighteen days. Gods she was obsessed.

"You know, maybe this is a bit too fancy," Annabeth wondered out loud.

"Annabeth!" the three girls gasped.

"Your hair is perfect, obviously," Lacy continued. "We _are_ the ones who styled it." Annabeth just rolled her eyes because she knew they weren't being sarcastic.

"Alright, I think I'll be okay. I'll just go check up on how Piper is dealing with Leo, and maybe look over the armory…Jeez I still need to see how Jason is holding up..." She wandered through the hallway, gears whirring and Lacy called after her,

"Just don't get too stressed- stress can evoke acne and you really don't need that." 


End file.
